Georges A. Tanguay

VOTERS' PREFERENCES REGARDING MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE QUEBEC DE‐MERGER REFERENDA

ABSTRACT: We use the results of the 2004 Quebec referenda on the mergers of municipalities to analyze the determinants of citizen preferences regarding municipal consolidation and fragmentation. The core hypotheses of our empirical model are generated from the economic theory of optimal jurisdictional size. Holding constant the influences of language and of a unit’s share of the merged population, we find voters are more likely to support de-merger when they expect that the merged unit will display a different public expenditure level than that of the municipality in which they reside. We also find support for de-merger is less when voters expect de-merger to increase the tax-price of local public services.

Short-term Impact of Shopping-hour Deregulation: Welfare Implications and Policy Analysis

The trade-off between the short- and long-term effects of the deregulation of shopping hours must be taken into account by policy-makers when introducing new legislation. In this paper, we argue that while long-term efficiency gains can be expected from relaxed shopping hours in Canada, deregulation also involves short-term social costs and a potential short-term redistribution of social welfare among Canadians. These issues seem to have been neglected in the debates over whether the provinces should permit Sunday shopping. This paper also presents empirical evidence on the immediate aftermath of deregulation in Quebec (July 8, 1990) in order to give policy-makers in the other provinces a better understanding of the risk of consumer disenchantment following deregulation.

Fundamental determinants of urban resilience: A search for indicators applied to public health crisis

We analysed 26 studies of the use of public health resilience indicators (PHRIs) in an urban setting in western countries, provinces and states. We selected 279 PHRIs in these studies, of which 270 (97%) are used only once or twice. The analysis of the studies thus reveals a lack of consensus not only on the conceptual framework and the approach favoured, but also on the selection and optimal number of indicators. First, by performing different classifications and categorisations of PHRI we identify problems inherent in territorial practices that use PHRI. Second, we argue that the lack of consensus in several steps of the creation of PHRI stems notably from the ambiguity in the definitions of urban public health resilience, objectives for the use of such indicators, the selection method and the accessibility of data. Third, we propose a selection strategy for PHRI through which we demonstrate the need to adopt a parsimonious list of PHRI covering the urban resilience components and their constituent categories as broadly as possible while minimising the number of indicators retained. The result is a concise and less redundant list of indicators that are less sectoral and more integrative, which has the advantage of encompassing the integrated dimensions of urban resilience.

Telecommuting and sustainable travel: Reduction of overall travel time, increases in non-motorised travel and congestion relief?:

Existing research has concluded that shares of telecommuting are low but stable, increase with distance from the workplace and that telecommuting may reduce commuting-related travel. Its effect on work and non-work travel are subject to rebound effects and, thus, still debated. Additionally, telecommuting does not necessarily occur entirely at home. The paper studies telecommuting’s potential as a sustainable mobility tool in Canada to reduce overall travel time and peak hour travel, and to increase non-motorised travel. Do types of telecommuting arrangements have varying relationships with these studied travel patterns? Using time use data from the 2005 Canadian General Social Survey, studied outcomes are regressed on telecommuting arrangements (all day home working, part-day home working and a combination of other locations and home and/or workplace) and other personal characteristics. Depending on telecommuting arrangements and travel outcomes, results vary. Working from home is associated with decreases in overall travel time by 14 minutes and increases in odds of non-motorised travel by 77%. Other forms of telecommuting yield different results. Telecommuters may be more likely to avoid peak hours when they do take trips. Types of telecommuting arrangements have different impacts on sustainable travel outcomes that should be considered depending on policy priorities.

Food Prices and the Timing of Welfare Payments: A Canadian Study

This is a study of the relationship between the timing of social welfare payments and the price of food for one neighbourhood in Montreal. Using prices of 31 grocery products over 26 weeks and across seven stores, we obtain two main results. First, we show that the availability of social welfare resources affects grocery prices throughout the month. Second, average grocery prices are lowest during cheque-receipt week and rise by 6.8 percent to 11.72 percent over the remainder of the monthly social welfare cycle. We argue that these results are consistent with social welfare recipients having progressively less resources for transportation over a month and therefore are more reliant on local grocery stores.

PROTECTING CANADA AND THE U.S. AGAINST TERRORISM: A COMMON SECURITY PERIMETER?

We argue that national security is a public good and its production can be analyzed in a strategic context. We first present the context of the border between Canada and the United States. Next, we discuss the options of status quo and adoption of a common security perimeter relative to sovereignty and security. We show that efficient border policies could require cooperation among countries but motivating such collaboration may be difficult since joint border security policies may involve a prisoners’ dilemma problem. On the other hand, we show that the likelihood of joint increased security will be higher if there are country-specific benefits for a country improving security at its border. If this is the case, we demonstrate it is possible to reach optimal security using independent border policies.